Japanese Cars (Flint, Troy, Auburn Hills: credit, transplants, health insurance)

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Alltaurus

It's not dangerous, but I would say it may be frowned upon by many.

Less frowners, better economy! Get rid of the UAW frowners and see a better Michigan!

[cksh]

Here in Michigan you used to be considered un-American or unpatriotic by the hard core "buy American types" if you owned an import. However, more and more Japanese companies are building cars in the States. So now the new saying is that you are "less of an American" and still "un-patriotic" because the US content is still lower regardless of where it was built. These hard core types will buy a GM or Ford vehicle built in Mexico before they will buy a Japanese car built in the states. I don't know what they will call me when my Japanese car has more domestic content than their Gm or Ford. I imagine I will still be Unpatriotic so that means that I must be Un-American too

Unfornutately my wife drives a Kia (our second Kia) and I have noticed that we get treated differently on the road and even when it is parked. Getting cut off or plenty of road rage from some of the drivers around here. Our van was hit by something (most like another door) in one of the sliding doors (too big to be by accident). people leave their empty shopping carts parked behind our van when I park at the local home depot. Little stuff like that but nothing too serious. I hope I am imagining but when 99% of the cars around here are GM, Ford or DCX I don't think I am.

Everyone here either works for the big three or has family or friends that do and is affected by all the layoffs. Most native Michiganders are rasied 'buy American automobiles" and have it drilled into their heads from birth. Most of them will not even consider buying anything else regardless of price or features.

I can't wait to see what happens to the first Chinese cars that show up here. Maybe it will take some of the heat off of my Korean car

When someone tells you that you are losing your job because of imports people tend to get a little mad.

[kaypurdue]

I drive a Honda Civic and have never had a problem..... especially considering my dad works for GM, and I work for Audi.

[scirocco22]

Thanks for all the responses so far! I find the comments interesting. I was just curious if things (and/or attitudes) have changed from those of 20 years ago. I would've hesitated to drive a Toyota in Michigan in the '70s and '80s from all the stories I was hearing.

I realize that it's a different time now, though. Lots of things have changed during that time; probably one of the more significant is Chrysler becoming a German owned company ...in addition to many more Japanese car manufacturers assembling their cars here in the U.S.

Originally Posted by superstition

You can't just not tell the story about the car wash.

Yeah, M Type X, what happened there, anyway?

Originally Posted by kaypurdue

I drive a Honda Civic and have never had a problem..... especially considering my dad works for GM, and I work for Audi.

Hah! That's too funny! You work for Audi and drive a Honda?!


Thanks again, everyone!


--'rocco

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by kaypurdue

I drive a Honda Civic and have never had a problem..... especially considering my dad works for GM, and I work for Audi.

Nice loyalty.....

If you were working for me at VW/Audi, unless you had that car before you started working there, I would have found a way to fire you or make you miserable enough to quit.

At my company, we expect people who work here to support our company, not throw money into our competitor's pockets.

Go buy a Golf/Rabbit or a Jetta.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by iamweasel

Nice loyalty.....

If you were working for me at VW/Audi, unless you had that car before you started working there, I would have found a way to fire you or make you miserable enough to quit.

At my company, we expect people who work here to support our company, not throw money into our competitor's pockets.

Go buy a Golf/Rabbit or a Jetta.

eh, I don't know. I can see both sides of that coin.

If I were your boss, kaypurdue, I might be disappointed but certainly wouldn't fire you treat you in any different way from anybody else if you were a competent and hard-working employee. To be punitive strictly on the basis that you aren't buying the company's product is asinine, IMO.

Just out of curiousity, what does your parking lot at work look like as far as what's parked there? I'm sure the majority of employees will drive V.A.G. cars but I'm sure there are quite a few Fords and GM cars there too, right?

It's just like somebody once sent me a picture of one of the Ford employee's parking lot somewhere there in Michigan and there actually were quite a few different makes, both American, Japanese, and European parked in the lot. I thought it might have been photoshopped but he told me it wasn't.

I don't know, could that be?

--'rocco

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

eh, I don't know. I can see both sides of that coin.

If I were your boss, kaypurdue, I might be disappointed but certainly wouldn't fire you treat you in any different way from anybody else if you were a competent and hard-working employee. To be punitive strictly on the basis that you aren't buying the company's product is asinine, IMO.

Just out of curiousity, what does your parking lot at work look like as far as what's parked there? I'm sure the majority of employees will drive V.A.G. cars but I'm sure there are quite a few Fords and GM cars there too, right?

It's just like somebody once sent me a picture of one of the Ford employee's parking lot somewhere there in Michigan and there actually were quite a few different makes, both American, Japanese, and European parked in the lot. I thought it might have been photoshopped but he told me it wasn't.

I don't know, could that be?

--'rocco

I don't think it's asinine to request your employees to support the company that pays them their salary. Part of being employed is doing your day-to-day job in an acceptable manner and representing the company you work for. If you hate the products so much that you won't buy them then I think you should go work somewhere else. (Especially given the discount people get.)

If I was a neighbor of his, knowing he worked at VW but wouldn't drive them, that certainly is not an endorsement of the company to me.

I recognize I have a hard-core view on this matter and when I worked for one of the Big 3 it did infuriate me to see other company products in our parking lot. Some of them are there for good reason as each company routinely buys each other's products to test them and tear them down for research, etc.

That being said, I think GM employees should be buying GM cars. If you like Toyotas well then go get a job there and you can drive them without any issue.

[scirocco22]

No, true, it's not asinine to "request" that they buy the company's product but to fire or take punitive action against them may.

You do make good points. That's why I said that I can see both sides to this issue. In all likelihood, I'd personally buy my employer's product but if my co-worker chose not to, I don't necessarily believe that they should be fired. It's still their own personal choice.

Btw, I'm a V.A.G fan myself and have always seem to have one VW or Audi in my garage but if I found a good job at GM or Ford, would I feel obligated to buy their product, man, I don't know. It's been decades since I've owned a Ford or GM product ...don't know if I could necessarily go back even if I did find a good job there.


--'rocco

[Virginia1]

Well..... I will tell you what is really insane. Down here our Ford F-150 truck plant is closing down. This plant was rated as one of if not the best plant in the country for Ford. Employees were given options, transfer, take a buyout, etc. Well some have transferred to the Ford plant in Detroit, they drive Ford automobiles......and guess what, there only fault was a Virginia Liscense plate, because they had there windows smashed in, while in the parking lot of Ford. I feel for my friends who have moved there. I am supposed to move up myself to live with my fiance, it's really, really, getting difficult to make that choice with a positive outlook when incidents happen like that. Oh....just wondering about previous debate on working for company and buying there product. If you give union dues and the political arm of the UAW support nothing but Democratic candidates and you feel that a candidate of a different party is in line with your views, can you speak up within your union and disagree with that? Or must one just blindly follow the company mantra. If so, your individualism and your opinion does not matter. That is a little scary.

[iamweasel]

Originally Posted by Virginia1

Well..... I will tell you what is really insane. Down here our Ford F-150 truck plant is closing down. This plant was rated as one of if not the best plant in the country for Ford. Employees were given options, transfer, take a buyout, etc. Well some have transferred to the Ford plant in Detroit, they drive Ford automobiles......and guess what, there only fault was a Virginia Liscense plate, because they had there windows smashed in, while in the parking lot of Ford. I feel for my friends who have moved there. I am supposed to move up myself to live with my fiance, it's really, really, getting difficult to make that choice with a positive outlook when incidents happen like that. Oh....just wondering about previous debate on working for company and buying there product. If you give union dues and the political arm of the UAW support nothing but Democratic candidates and you feel that a candidate of a different party is in line with your views, can you speak up within your union and disagree with that? Or must one just blindly follow the company mantra. If so, your individualism and your opinion does not matter. That is a little scary.

That is a shame they had some problems like that here. I know of these incidents as the UAW provides jobs based on seniority so for every worker who moved to Detroit from Virgina, someone in Detroit lost a job. Sometimes people don't handle that situation correctly and I hope that does not reflect poorly on the city of Detroit. It was not random violence.

The Norfolk plant was a great facility with great workers unfortunately it was a victim of circumstance. The plant closed for several reasons:
1) It was old and landlocked with no room for expansion. There is a new (bigger) F150 coming in the summer of 2008 and the plant cannot handle building that vehicle without a significant investment.
2) It can only build a limited number of crew cab models which is now what sells the most. When that plant was built they didn't even make crew cabs.
3) It's the furthest plant away from the midwest core where Ford and most of their suppliers are and the freight costs to get parts into that plant are significantly higher than the other F150 plants. In addition, the outbound freight of finished vehicles, on average, is also significantly higher because of the location.

As far as the union goes I am very anti-union as far as the auto industry is concerned. At one time they served a purpose but now they have overstepped their bounds and are too difficult to work with. If the US government is in favor of free world trade then companies like Ford and GM cannot afford to pay people $60/hour to cut the lawn and mop the floor. (That is not an exaggeration, either.)